Profiles of the riders of the Washoe County Sheriff's Mounted Horse Unit
In 1860 the first Pony Express mail was delivered in Sacramento, California. The Pony Express delivered mail by horse from California to Missouri and was known for their remarkable speed of delivery. The Pony Express was short lived though and was dissolved in 1861. Coincidentally, 1861 was the same year the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office was established. Horses have had a long history within the Sheriff’s Office. That equine representation is in the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Horse Unit as it was revived in 2016. Each horse and rider assigned to the Sheriff’s Office Mounted Horse Unit must complete and pass a rigorous 40-hour Nevada Peace Officer Standards and Training course before they are able to be utilized. The initial training is designed to test and challenge the abilities of the horse and rider, and better the partnership for encounters faced later while on duty. The mounted unit trains once a month to ensure proficiency, and the Sheriff’s Office can deploy eleven (11) mounted deputies into service as needed. The horses used on the Mounted Unit are owned by the deputies within the unit. There is no arguing that the Sheriff’s Office Mounted Horse Unit looks amazing leading one of our local parades. The Mounted Horse Unit can also be used to patrol hiking trails within Washoe County, enforce shooting laws within congested areas, and conduct crowd control at large events as well as in an event such as the one that occurred in downtown Reno in 2020.
Our community can be proud of the commitment, hard work and dedication of this team.
